I argue that Kant’s transcendental idealism and Strawson’s descriptive metaphysics are both examples of what I call methodological conservativism. Methodological conservativism involves the claim that a subset of common first-order beliefs is immune to revision. I argue that there are striking differences between their respective commitments to this position, however. For Kant, his conservativism is based upon a commitment to the reliability of particular results of the sciences of his day. For Strawson, in contrast, his conservativism is based upon his (...) attempted liberation of arguments for the necessity of a certain conceptual scheme from any particular scientific commitments. In fact, for Strawson, no change in scientific commitments could displace the conceptual scheme employed to navigate the manifest world of ordinary perceptual experience. Each approach brings with it challenges with regard to how to accommodate potential scientific theory change. (shrink)

El propósito de este texto es aclarar la dirección, los alcances y los límites del análisis filosófico según lo concibe Peter Strawson en Análisis y metafísica. Para el autor el análisis filosófico asume la forma de una metafísica descriptiva, esto es, de una teoría que exhibe cuáles son, y cómo se relacionan, los distintos elementos que componen nuestro esquema conceptual ordinario. Para lograr tal teoría descriptiva se debe adoptar un estilo de análisis que el autor denomina conectivo, cuya meta es (...) identificar cuáles conceptos, al interior de nuestro esquema son básicos o fundamentales. A este fin deberán aplicarse tres criterios: generalidad, irreductibilidad y no contingencia. (shrink)

This chapter contains section titled: Criteria of Ontological Commitment: Two Examples ‘No Entity without Identity’: Identity Conditions for Objects Individuation Conditions, Identity Conditions, and Metaphysical Kinds Principles and Criteria of Identity.